Archive for the ‘Mike Alexander’ tag

Death is inevitable for us all, but truly living is not. When we pause at the end of the year to remember the fellow car guys and the shapers of the old car hobby who died in that year, we can’t help but notice that each of these people made this list because of the ways they made the most of their lives. Some of them did so by entertaining us, some of them did so by instilling awe in us, and some did so by showing us the way forward. All of them, though, made the world we know just a little bit richer.

Tom Magliozzi. When Magliozzi – one half of the Click and Clack brothers from NPR’s Car Talk radio show – died in November, media outlets from The New York Times to The Hollywood Reporter covered the news, and more than a few of them included reminiscences of howling laughter at the jokes and assorted tomfoolery the brothers got into on their show. More than just a Boston accent and a Dodge Dart lover, though, Magliozzi knew his cars from his years owning and operating the Good News Garage, and probably got more people poking their heads under their cars’ hoods than any other radio host in history.

Andy Granatelli. Though he never raced in the Indianapolis 500, Granatelli – who died in late December 2013 – earned the nickname “Mister 500″ for all of his years of involvement with the race, either as a car owner, promoter, or simply for his enduring presence there. His career in motorsports extends far beyond the 500, though, from his hot rod aftermarket parts business to his time as a promoter for STP, his work with Studebaker and Paxton, and later in life his attempts to start a motorsports museum.

Jack Brabham. To this day, Brabham remains the only driver to win a Formula 1 championship in a car bearing his name, which should say something both about the man’s driving abilities (along with the fact that the Australian won three Formula 1 championships) and his engineering and design proficiencies. Brabham, who died in May, continued to make public appearances with his cars up until the day before he died.

“Speedy” Bill Smith. Even if you only perused the Speedway Motors catalog over the years, you could see what sort of an influence Smith – who died in May – had on the racing and hot rodding world. As co-founder and operator of what he claimed to be the world’s oldest continuously operating speed shop (since 1952), Smith not only supplied and sponsored plenty of racers over the years, he also curated a much-lauded museum of extremely rare racing engines and other speed parts at the company’s headquarters in Nebraska.

Mark Smith. Unrelated to Bill Smith, Mark Smith – who died in June – was one of the pioneers of off-roading and four-wheeling. An avowed Jeep enthusiast since the postwar years, Smith was the first to lead an organized run up the Rubicon and later founded the Jeep Jamboree before tackling even larger challenges, such as crossing the Darien Gap in South America.

James Garner. While most of the world knew Garner – who died in July – as a prolific actor, he also had a second career as a racer and team owner, with behind-the-wheel experience in desert racing and behind-the-checkbook experience in endurance racing. His 1966 film Grand Prix also remains a gearhead favorite to this day.

Dick Thompson. Known as the “flying dentist,” Thompson – who died in September – had the grit and the stamina to pursue a second career in both amateur and professional auto racing, almost entirely behind the wheel of a series of Chevrolet Corvettes, helping to legitimize that car as a capable sports car competitor. With such luminaries as John Fitch, Bill Mitchell, and Zora Arkus-Duntov backing him, Thompson became a legend among Corvette enthusiasts.

Harold Coker. Every car, old or new, needs tires, but the rubber-on-the-road needs of old cars differ quite a bit from newer cars. Coker, who founded Coker Tire in 1958 and who died in November, collected older cars himself and so saw where the needs of his fellow collectors went unmet.

Mike Alexander. One of the famous Alexander brothers duo, Mike – who died in July – not only had a hand in such famous customs as the Dodge Deora and Chili Catallo’s Silver Sapphire, he also did design work for Ford through the Kar Kraft Design Center and for American Sunroof Corporation.

A.J. Watson. Indy car builder and mechanic, Watson’s cars are considered the last great front-engined cars to compete at Indianapolis. Watson – who died in May – did try driving early on in his career, but found greater success building his distinctive cars with offset engines for other racers, including Dick Rathmann, Rodger Ward, and A.J. Foyt.

* Mike Alexander, the last of the famed Alexander brothers duo behind such customs as the Dodge Deora, died last week at the age of 80. J. Ukrop at The Jalopy Journal has a nice piece remembering the legend.

Before they built the Dodge A-100-based Deora, one of the most famous customized pickups of the 1960s, the Alexander brothers of Detroit built another pickup, though for an entirely different purpose. Intended to serve as their shop truck and parts chaser rather than as a turntable queen, the Grasshopper nevertheless collected its own share of show awards and accolades, and later this month will cross the auction block.

Not long after brothers and Army veterans Larry and Mike Alexander quit their day jobs to start their own customizing shop in 1957, the two decided they needed a shop truck that would double as a rolling billboard and calling card for their services. So they bought a $100 1931 Ford Model A, filled the roof and chopped it 2-1/2 inches, added 1929 Model A fenders, installed a filled and peaked 1932 Ford grille shell and mahogany-lined 1932 Ford pickup bed, and sprayed it all in Glade Green Metallic, a hue that led to its nickname as well as to a Best Paint award at the 1958 Detroit Autorama.

While the brothers kept the drivetrain rather sedate – just a stock 1951 Ford flathead V-8 backed by a Ford three-speed manual transmission – they did lower it with a dropped front axle and modified rear crossmember and spruce up the interior with green and white tuck and roll and a homemade gauge cluster using 1950s Chrysler gauges.

How long exactly the brothers kept Grasshopper – and whether they actually used it to haul parts for their business – isn’t clear, but it appeared to remain on the show circuit through the next couple of owners, the latter of which, Don Boake of Dayton, Ohio, removed the drivetrain to update it sometime in the late 1960s, but never got around to finishing the project. He reportedly claimed he’d only ever sell the Grasshopper to one or both of the Alexander brothers, and his wish came true when, in about 2001, Mike Alexander came knocking, looking to buy the pickup.

Mike then commissioned Metalcrafters, Inc., in Fountain Valley, California, to put the Grasshopper back together again. The customized body remained in good shape, but Metalcrafters had to replace the chassis with another 1929 Ford frame. This time, they went with a 1948 Ford flathead V-8, bored and ported and fitted with Edelbrock high-compression heads and dual Strombergs on an Edmunds intake manifold, backed by a Ford C4 automatic transmission and Ford 8-inch rear axle.